Six Massachusetts eighth graders face criminal charges in connection with “hateful and racist comments” in a group chat that allegedly included threats and a mock slave auction, officials said. Several students “expressed hateful and racist comments, including notions of violence toward people of color, racial slurs, derogatory pictures and videos, and a mock slave auction directed at two juveniles known to them,” Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said at a press briefing on Thursday an